Conventional passenger and cargo aircraft are typically configured as high or low wing aircraft. In those aircraft the wings are positioned above or below the passenger or cargo compartment within the fuselage, and the wings are attached to the fuselage through a wing structural box. The fuselage is attached at the top or bottom to the wing structural box depending on whether the aircraft is configured as a high-wing or low-wing aircraft. The wing structural box is typically very heavy since it needs to be substantial enough to bear a large portion of the wing loads and support the fuselage. The wing may also be mounted through a cutout portion of the fuselage, in which case fuselage reinforcement may be required to maintain the fuselage structural integrity.
An aircraft fuselage is designed to bear many types of loads. First, the fuselage must support hoop stress created from the pressurization of the fuselage during flight. The fuselage must also support tension, compression, and shear forces caused by bending and torsion of the fuselage resulting from the movement of the aircraft flight surfaces used to control the aircraft. The fuselage must also support the forces acting during landing, and from external air pressure and velocity changes such as those experienced during maneuvers while flying, during turbulence, or wind shear conditions. The skin assembly of an aircraft usually bears a large portion of these loads. The fuselage frame includes various stringers and bulkheads that further support the skin assembly and the loads experienced during flight operations.
Large aircraft are frequently built using an aluminum monocoque fuselage. One method of constructing an aluminum monocoque fuselage includes erecting a series of frames, shaped like the fuselage cross-section, and joining these frame sections with longitudinal stringers to create a fuselage section. The fuselage section is then sheathed with a skin of sheet aluminum, attached by riveting or by bonding with adhesives. Fuselage sections are then typically joined with fasteners to form the complete fuselage. In larger aircraft an aluminum keel is usually attached to the interior floor of the fuselage. The keel typically helps reinforce the area where the wing and main landing gear require a large fuselage cutout.
Another method of constructing a section of a monocoque fuselage includes placing layers of carbon fiber reinforced fabric around a rotating mandrel with reinforced fabric placement machines. In this way a composite barrel section is formed and one or more barrel sections may be connected to construct the fuselage. Examples of fabric placement machine technologies include automated fiber placement, automated tape laying, and filament winding. The mandrel provides the basic shape of a fuselage section and layers of carbon fiber reinforced fabric are applied over the rotating mandrel to form an interior skin of the fuselage section. With regard to some methods of constructing a section of a monocoque fuselage, the interior skin is typically covered with a layer of honeycomb core. The fabric placement machine then applies layers of carbon fiber reinforced fabric over the honeycomb core to form an exterior skin. The interior skin, honeycomb core, and exterior skin together form a skin assembly. With regard to other methods of constructing a section of a monocoque fuselage, the mandrel provides the shape of the interior skin and integral stringers. The skin and stringers are placed on the mandrel and co-cured to form a completed fuselage skin.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the disclosure made herein is presented.